Theory

1 Moment of Inertia
The quantitative measure of the rotational inertia of a body i.e., the opposition that the body
exhibits to having its speed of rotation about an axis altered by the application of a torque. The
axis may be internal or external and may or may not be fixed. The moment of inertia, however,
is always specified with respect to that axis and is defined as the sum of the products obtained
by multiplying the mass of each particle of matter in a given body by the square of its distance
from the axis. [1]

The formula of Moment of Inertia is expressed as:

I=mr2

2 Bifilar Suspension
The bifilar suspension is a technique used to determine the moment of inertia of any type of
object about any point on the object. This is done by suspending two parallel cords of equal
length through the object examined.

If a rod of moment of inertia I and mass m is hung from two threads of length L and separated
by a distance d as shown in the figure given below and is oscillated in a horizontal plane about
a vertical axis through its centre, then the period (T) is given by:

1
IL 2
T = 2π [ ]
mgd2

Figure 1 Bifilar Suspension [2]

3 Derivation of MOI of Bifilar Suspension
Consider a rectangular bar suspended by a string of length ‘l’ the length of the bar is equal to
‘2d’ that is they’d’ by its half. Tension the string A is TA and tension produced in the string B
is TB. [3]

As for a bifilar suspension torque is,

T=w

mg
TA =
2

TA = TB

AA′ = l∅A = dθ

dθ
∅A =
l

BB′ = l∅B = dθ

dθ
∅B =
l

Components of the TA & TB

TA Sin∅A = TA ∅A

mg dθ
TA Sin∅A = .
2 l

TB Sin∅B = TB ∅B

mg dθ
TB Sin∅B = .
2 l
 mg dθ mg dθ
Restoring Couple= . .d + . .d
2 l 2 l

mg d2 θ
Restoring Couple = 2 × .
2 l

mg d2 θ
Restoring Couple =
l

For Disturbing Couple= Iα

mg d2 θ
= Iα
l

θ Il
=
α mg d2

θ
T = 2π√
α

lI
T = 2π√
mg d2

Taking Square on the both sides of equation we can get moment of inertia of bifilar
suspension

mg d2 T 2
I=
4π2 l
4 References

[ [Online]. Available: https://www.britannica.com/science/moment-of-inertia. [Accessed 1 4

1 2019].
]

[ [Online].Available:http://www.schoolphysics.co.uk/age16.19/Mechanics/Simple%20harm
2 onic%20motion/text/Bifilar_suspension/index.html. [Accessed 1 4 2019].
]

[ [Online]. Available: https://studylib.net/doc/8535563/bifilar-suspension-and-auxiliary-

3 mass-method. [Accessed 1 4 2019].
]